Common and unusual nymphs

  • Updated
    24/08/23
  • Read time
    2 minutes
Bugs, planthopper Click to enlarge image
Green Face Wattle Hopper, Hackerobrachys viridiventris Image: Rachel Nightingale
© Australian Museum

Fast Facts

  • Classification
    Super Family
    Fulgoroidea
    Infraorder
    Flugoromorpha
    Order
    Hemiptera
    Class
    Insecta
    Subphylum
    Hexapoda
    Phylum
    Arthropoda
    Kingdom
    Animalia

Planthoppers are insects in the “true bug” order Hemiptera. They have their own superfamily, Fulgoroidea.

Planthoppers feed on plant sap which is high in sugar. Many sap-sucking insects remove any excess sugar from their bodies in the form of sticky droplets called honeydew. Planthoppers have taken this a step further and instead secrete the excess sugar as wax. This is used to their advantage in the form of waxy ‘tails’.

Nymph planthoppers can have a wide variety of waxy tails depending on the species. They can be used for different purposes:

  • Feather-like tails are used to slow down their flight when falling
  • Pipe-cleaner-like, stringy tails are used to cover their body and keep water off (the wax is hydrophobic)
  • Antenna-like tails are predominantly used to distract predators. Having antenna-like tails can trick predators into thinking their head is on that end, and the planthopper can then hop away in the opposite direction. Some will even walk backwards to add to the deception
Bugs, plant hopper

Planthopper nymph, Winston Hills, NSW

Image: Sabine Tramaseur
© Australian Museum